Pres De La Salle unlucky to lose out in Leinster semi-final

THE De La Salle, Bagenalstown boys will probably feel they left this Leinster senior hurling schools C semi-final in Ballykelly behind them last Thursday.
Controversy reigned in a five-minute spell in the third quarter. Initially Richie Whelan worked very hard to gain possession before beating his marker to shoot over a point from a narrow angle on the left. Minutes later he had a similar chance on the right. This time he was thwarted by the Boyne keeper who cleared the sliotar to a colleague.
As that move built up momentum, Sean Coffey took his chances with a 35m effort into the strong wind. The shot looked good initially but then tailed well wide. To the disgust of the De La Salle defence, referee David Coady signalled a score.
That wasn’t all. He returned to Richie Whelan and gave him a second yellow card indicating he had tangled illegally with the keeper. The dismissed player looked bewildered.
Boyne had opened up a four-point lead in the first half before Paul Martin netted for De La Salle. The wind was a big factor as the eventual winners went to the break 1-7 to 1-2 ahead.
The game only came to life after the second-half controversy. Before that there were chances to narrow the gap which were not taken. There was still plenty of time when the Bagenalstown side went for a goal from a 20m free in the third quarter.
Later on with time ebbing away they did so again. Both efforts were comfortably saved as the point that wasn’t came back to bite the losing side.
With the final puck of the contest Mikey Bambrick stood over a 30m free. His shot flew over the crossbar. There was a debate about that one between the referee and an umpire too. To their credit, De La Salle connections didn’t make an issue of the decisions which went against them.
Pres De La Salle: Neil Martin (Erin’s Own); Jack Bermingham (Michael Davitts), Martin Bridgett (Ballinkillen), Fionn White (Erin’s Own); Mikey Bambrick (0-2 0-1 free, Michael Davitts), Niall Roche (Michael Davitts), Tadgh Roche (Michael Davitts); Paddy Hynes (Ballinkillen), Danny Doyle (Erin’s Own); Jack McDonald (Barrow Rangers), Richie Whelan (0-1, Erin’s Own), Ciaran Hanlon (Barrow Rangers); Robbie Keane (Erin’s Own), Cian Doyle (0-4 2fs, Erin’s Own), Paul Martin (1-2, Barrow Rangers). Sub: Cormac Lomax (0-1, Ballinkillen) for McDonald (h/t).
Boyne CS: Aaron Dunne; Jack Bannon, Jacob Ryan, Evan Buckley; Evan Fitzgerald, James McNally (0-1f); Sean Coffey (0-1), Kevin Coffey (0-1); Elian Scanlon (0-1), Vincent Ward (0-2), Simon Ennis; Trevor Healy, Jack Cummins (1-1), Nicholas Potterton (0-4,3fs). Sub: Michael O’Donnell for Ennis (34 mins).
Referee: David Coady (Kildare)